Our roles

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 Home - Bischoferhaus Serfaus Image by Andreas Schalber https://www.bischoferhaus.at/en/

Much like Aroma of righteousness, Religion in the Kitchen was a new reading experience for me. And once again, that is far from a bad thing. While admittedly I could never really see myself or any of the people of color I know taking part in Lucumi, I could definitely see them being inspired by it's practices much in the same way I was. The book does an amazing job going over the history, beliefs, and origins of Lucumi as it made its way to the states. 

What really got my attention though was the section in the book about kitchen roles and how in Lucumi, men handle the 4-legged animals for food while women handle the 2-legged ones. Switching the roles or having both genders do both types of work seems to be okay for some Lucumi communities but just flat out wrong sounding for others like that one cuban priestess named Elaina comes from. Afterwards, the section goes on in detail about all the different roles each gender plays and how some can and do break from tradition here and there.

Ultimately, this got me thinking about how other groups interpret these gender roles and how these perceptions are still around in some way shape or form. For example,  there are still lots of people out there who believe that the best place for a women to be is in the kitchen or just at home. Meanwhile men should be out working and have no idea how to cook because it's not their role. Both of which are total nonsense obviously, especially if you're a guy who believes the second one. What? your telling me you got a whole kitchen and you'd rather just starve or eat fast food all day rather than make your own food? I mean that's probably what I would do but still get over yourself! Also, if you've ever cooked with friends or family before then chances are you know how much more enjoyable a meal can taste when its creation is on a more personal level. Obviously, I'm not trying to criticize anyone's religious beliefs or upbringing but as someone who comes from a very big family, I just feel as though those home made meals have more value than your average store bought meals. To me, cooking with everyone close to you should be seen more as a special occasion since the value of that experience and motives behind it can even outweigh the taste of the food sometimes. Something which I think this book does an amazing job at explaining from page to page.

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